1. Field
The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to circuit interruption equipment and, more particularly, to an improved charging handle apparatus for use in a circuit breaker.
2. Related Art
Circuit interruption equipment is generally known for use in interrupting at least a portion of an electrical circuit in certain overcurrent and under-voltage conditions, as well as other conditions. Circuit interruption equipment typically can include a circuit interrupter such as a circuit breaker, and the circuit breaker can be mounted on a switchgear cabinet or other mounting structure, although this is not strictly required. Depending upon the current interruption capability of the circuit breaker, the circuit breaker may include an operating mechanisms having springs that are of a sufficient stiffness that in order to manually recharge them the springs are compressed with a ratcheting type of handle that is mounted to a housing of the circuit breaker and that is manually pivotable to mechanically charge the operating mechanisms. While such system have been generally effective for mechanically charging the operating mechanism of a circuit breaker, such systems have not been without limitation.
Ratcheting handles such as those mentioned above often operate cooperatively with a gear and a shaft to mechanically charge the operating mechanism of the circuit breaker. If the gear is improperly installed with respect to the handle or shaft or both, such as if the gear is installed in a reverse direction from what is correct, the system must be disassembled and the orientation of the gear must be corrected. Moreover, since the gear and the handle cooperate with a shaft, the gear and the handle typically cannot be pre-assembled except when provided in conjunction with an assembled circuit breaker. The inability of the gear to be pre-assembled with the handle can cause the gear to become lost during assembly and can also exacerbate the problem of installing the gear in the correct orientation as mentioned above. It thus would be desirable to provide an improved charging handle apparatus and circuit breaker that meet these and other needs.